


we could fall down, or we could fly

by gongryongs



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band), Winner (Band)
Genre: F/M, there is only very very little seungwan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9145765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gongryongs/pseuds/gongryongs
Summary: Kang Seulgi has met The Crown Prince, Lee Seunghoon, numerous times, and he never fails to surprise her each time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> written for the **[kpop crossover fest](http://k-crossoverfest.livejournal.com/2562.html)**

 

 **K.S.G. _ RW14 - 801 _ Log 2 _**  
  
The soft ting of the communicator wakes her up. She rubs her eyes with one hand, another roaming the table beside the sleeping pod aimlessly in hope of getting found by the communicator sensor. When the screen still doesn’t appear, Seulgi sits up groggily and opens her eyes.  
  
The all-white furniture and walls she has been with the past few days come into sight. She looks outside through her small glass window to see the endless black sky and, finally, a familiar lone planet which image she has seen uncountably since she was a little girl. She knows it’s because of the distance from the ship, but it actually looks quite small. She presses her bracelet to open the message from her father asking her for an update and replies him by sending their current coordinate.  
  
_Almost there._  
  
The numbers and writings on the wall next to her bed implicate that they—she and other girls on board—should arrive at Regalia very soon. She should probably be at least a little anxious like the other girls, but in all honesty: she couldn't care less. Unlike her father who still calls his only daughter “princess”, she has thrown all dreams of becoming one in trade for another dream she has grown to care more about. Besides, if it weren’t because his father is in The Council, she would probably even fail the previous rounds of tryouts.  
  
Seulgi goes out of her room.  
  
_Another day to pass by in this stuffy ship and another twenty in a lone planet._  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The first time they meet, he is a dot in the distance coming towards her in full force and acceleration.  
  
  
  
She is just about to go into the cookery for one of the evaluations—one where she would probably have to cook—when he slams into her, throwing him off his hoverboard and throwing her straight to the ground.  
  
“Shit,” he says, laying flat on the floor, body now aching on top of having no energy from the hunger he has been feeling.  
  
When he sees her standing up, he looks at her like she is just another boring entity. Seulgi doesn’t like it, it’s as if she is being stripped off of her individuality. On top of that, he doesn’t even apologize for crashing into her like that. She is about to leave, when he says, “Um… sorry?”  
  
Way to apologize after crashing into someone—pretty hardly, too.  
  
“Sorry for being in your way too, I guess,” she says to him, even though it’s really not her fault for standing normally when someone is speeding dangerously on a vehicle, indoor.  
  
“Damn right you were in my way,” he mutters while grabbing his hoverboard, apparently not low enough because she just furrows her eyebrows.  
  
“I said I’m sorry. Isn’t dashing around like that with a hoverboard inside a building dangerous, though? I’m not sure you should do that.”  
  
As a prince, Lee Seunghoon is used to scoldings from the people of the palace, but not from a stranger. Definitely not from someone trying out to be his wife. He expected excessive apology, avoidance, and forgiveness even before he apologizes—not this. He is so confused he can only parrot her, “I said I’m sorry.”  
  
She sighs and asks her whether he is the cooking evaluation instructor. He takes another look at the girl looking at him curiously and then lowers his head to hide his smirk. He then asks her to help him get some grains from the cookery, because the other cookery needs it. It is maybe because of her good nature, or maybe because she just wants to get away from this guy quickly, but she ends up helping him.  
  
After he thanked him and she left, a mischievous grin blooms on his face, not unlike that of a kid seeing a new toy.  
  
(The evaluation ends up starting late, because apparently those grains are needed.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The next time she meets him, he gets himself into a near-death-experience—for all she knows.  
  
  
  
It is day 7 of the selection. The incandescence of the star warms the atmosphere, the air is blowing a comfortable breeze, her hair nudged around freely; this is the day she has been waiting for. She breathes in a lungful of air, happy to be in the outdoors at last.  
  
They told her that she could pick any form of self-defense she is confident with to be evaluated throughout a simulation, and of course she’ll pick anything related to flight. She shouldn’t be surprised, but they have such a numerous variant of shuttle that she feels like she’s a kid in a delicacy shop. She picks the one that came out probably around the time her dad was just graduating from higher academy. While approaching the shuttle at the end of the hangar, she sees a man beside the shuttle.  
  
“Hey, it's you again? I thought you work in the cookery?” she asks him.  
  
“Nobody ever said I work there. And knowing what I do here is not of any importance,” he says.  
  
“Ah. Yeah, well, I’ll be heading for a simulation,” she says while tilting her head to the direction of the shuttle.  
  
“Hey, after simulations, do you want to go take a ride around?”  
  
She laughs a cute laugh, like what he asked was the silliest question ever, “oh gosh, no, I’m not gonna use the king’s shuttle for fun. But I guess we could take a walk around?”  
  
He just answers with a hum.  
  
Seunghoon watches the shuttle take off into the air and sees it dive, swerve, and shoots its nonexistent ammo. It looks quite silly from the outside, really. He looks at it with a hint of determination in his eyes.  
  
When the shuttle looks like it's stabilizing and heading back to the hangar, Seunghoon takes off with his hoverboard. He makes sure he’s in the girl’s line of sight, and then acts like he’s losing his balance. When the shuttle slows down, he knows he’s got her attention. He then purses his lips and slips one of his feet off the edge of the hoverboard, which in turn pulls his weight down and then: he falls to the sea of plants below him.  
  
Seulgi shouts in her shuttle and immediately swoops down, but the man fell far under the canopy trees already, she can’t see a thing. She braces herself and brings the shuttle through a gap into the forest. She tries to go around, but the density of the trees are hindering her as the gaps are too small for her shuttle, so she lands it on the widest space she can reach and gets off the shuttle.  
  
Just as the horror of the possibility of his death starts creeping up to her, something swoops and stops. The man is floating in front of her on his hoverboard.  
  
  
  
  
He convinces her into sitting down on the grass because he is “still recovering from the shock”. That’s when he asks stuff about her.  
  
About who she is— _Kang Seulgi,_ she says—and where she comes from. She doesn’t ask him his name, but that might be better for him.  
  
About why she’s here and why she wants to be the wife of The Prince. ( _“don't tell me; it's been your dream since you were little to be a princess,” he says. She blushes, “it was, but I grew out of the dream. And besides, I barely know anything about the prince. Not much info goes around about him, it’s like they’re hiding him.”_ )  
  
About why she picked the shuttle for the simulations. And that’s when she tells him.  
  
“I want to enter the Defense Team of the kingdom. I love flying. I could always be a pilot for transporter ships, but—no offense—where’s the fun in that? You just have to fly straight to your destination and come back.”  
  
A sigh, “anyway, my dad doesn’t want me to get into a dangerous occupation like that. I talked him out of it and he actually let me apply to the recruitment for training—and I also got in. But then this opportunity presents itself and my dad is not about to let it go.”  
  
He stares at the girl with the eyes staring off into the distance, towards the seeping lights of the star getting through tiny gaps in between petals and sheets of the top of tall plants shadowing over them. The hot breeze blows around them and nudges her hair so that it is floating and falling around her face.  
  
She lets out a little nostalgic laugh, “he still calls me ‘princess’ up until now.”  
  
“The princess who doesn’t have a clue about the prince, huh? I thought people from Illumine— _the_ science planet—would be smart and full of information,” he says, still gazing afar. Her cheeks start getting tinted with pink. She slaps his back.  
  
“You would look good as a princess,” he says suddenly.  
  
She laughs, shade of pink not escaping her cheeks, “thank you, but the others would look better.”  
  
She then tells him about a girl who—according to her—is very pretty. A Suji or something. She says she thinks this girl would look good with the prince.  
  
“Hmm. I don’t recall,” he answers flatly, “what an opinion from someone who doesn’t even know what the prince looks like, though.” He squints at her with a mocking smile on his face. She glares at him.  
  
When the sky turns darker, Seulgi suddenly realizes she’s still ‘stealing’ The King’s shuttle and panics, so that’s as much chat as they’ll have for the day.  
  
The Prince wonders whether all people is this interesting when they’re not sucking up to him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The third time they meet, it’s a date.  
  
  
  
Seunghoon goes back and forth and around the corridor where Kang Seulgi’s room is. It’s the ball tonight, and that means she’s having her free time up until evening. When he is agonizing whether it’s right to wait there, the girl in question comes out of her room. Her eyes light up in recognition as she greets him and asks him if he is there to deliver something to someone. Seunghoon is lost on the jobs she keeps thinking he has.  
  
“No, I’m not,” he shakes his head, “although, now that you’re here—are you free today?”  
  
Her eyes look upward and she bites her lips, a long hum is heard before she answers, “yes, I think.”  
  
He then asks her to come ride with him—ride his hoverboards, that is, not ride the king’s (also his) shuttles. When her face starts showing hesitation, he doesn’t forget to tell her that she would totally be back before the ball. They agree to meet at the garden in an hour.  
  
  
  
That day, he brings her to a cliff around the edges of the palace, where they can see the palace in its entirety. The grand building made of metal and glass stands majestically, surrounded by lush extends of trees and plants and a handful of smaller buildings. The sky is as blue as it always is; only a shade lighter than it is at night. Animals sing and screech in the air warmed by the radiation of the nearest star. When she asks him what he has brought her here for, he tells her to sit beside him and tell him more stories about her life. “I haven't been to many places,” he says.  
  
So she tells him about training, about how fun academy is but also how exhausting it is having to study so much, about how there are so many different species in her planet ( _“See, they all go there to study. It’s so weird living in a planet for smart people when you're not even close to being smart,” she laughs_ ). He learns that she sees herself lower than she actually is.  
  
“You’re doing it again,” he says one time when she is praising a girl named Heeyeon.  
  
She stops talking, “—huh?”  
  
“You’re lowering yourself and praising other people too much.” She stays quiet. “I can bet you’re not as bad as you think you are,” he says.  
  
She sighs and lays on her back, “it's just that, I’ve always been following what my parents told me are good for me. What my parents told me is ‘the right thing’, you know? But I’ve always just been mediocre at them.”  
  
“Hm,” he responds. That’s how he is too; always following and practicing to do ‘the important things’ right. That’s why he has so many escapisms.  
  
“It’s why I pushed so hard to join training and recruitment, I guess. Because that’s the only thing I know I want sincerely for myself, because I have fun doing it.”  
  
He looks at her from where he sits.  
  
“Hey, wanna know what's fun, though?” He stands up and holds his hand to her, motioning for her to grab and use it as pivot to stand up. He then hands her her hoverboard.  
  
After Seulgi gets on it, he gets on his and floated towards the front of her. “Don’t move,” he says while he fiddles with his own bracelet—Seulgi got one too when she arrived in Regalia, it contains essential information about the selection, the palace, and about Regalia. An old tune Seulgi has heard from her grandmother’s tuneplayer when she was little starts echoing from his bracelet. Seunghoon pulls her hand.  
  
“Let’s dance,” he says with a grin on his face.  
  
Her face goes blank, but she follows him anyway while pointing to below her and saying, “on these?”  
  
He nods and leads her to move forward slowly as he glides backwards. The song flows smoothly, the sound of instruments connected to each other intricately. It is midday, but the song itself sounds kind of like the color of the sky just before evening; soft, complex, and progressively turning as each second passes. It would have been quite nice, if only Seulgi has the grace to maneuver her hoverboard into a dance. She tries to elegantly swerve to her left, copying him, but she fell to the ground. He laughs in reaction to that, but jumps off his hoverboard and approaches her.  
  
“Oh well, let’s just do it the conventional way,” he says while gesturing Seulgi to join him.  
  
It was nothing close to an elegant dance, but they—their steps, rhythm, movements—surprisingly match each other. His hands are in her hands, guiding her to follow his moves. When she starts feeling like she can’t keep up with him, she laughs and lets his hand go, but motions him to continue his dance. Which he does for a little while.  
  
“You’re quite good, huh?” she says when he sits down beside her with feet extended, a couple of sweat drops slide the lining of his hair.  
  
“You’re not bad yourself,” he says.  
  
“I had lessons when I was little, but I haven’t danced for such a long while.”  
  
“Why?” he asks as he wipes his face and hair.  
  
“I guess I just didn't have the use for it. And a friend to do it with.”  
  
He doesn't answer. His breath slowly becomes even.  
  
“Beautiful, though, isn’t it?,” he says, “dance and music?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“I love dancing, they’re my sanctuary when I need to escape from things—from responsibilities. It’s the same way with riding the hoverboard. The sensation makes me feel free,” he says as he close his eyes, enjoying the melody slide into his ears, “And I love old songs. They’re more…delicate. Also, they allow me more space and control for my moves.”  
  
She stares at him with a surprised face and deadpans, “that’s how I feel towards old shuttles and ships.  
  
“And I didn’t know you have this side to you,” she says as she elbows him.  
  
“Guess we have more in common than we think,” he grins.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Seunghoon sits on a chair in the observation room that night. He sees the girls mingling with people at the ball below, but he isn’t processing anything from it. His parents are discussing about the girls, and how they know some of their parents. He, on the other hand, just stares at the view below with his mind traveling to the near future. It’s the tenth day, which means the selection is halfway done and he has to reach his decision in another ten days. The decision is his main concern, but there is something else that he needs to figure out even sooner: how to break it down to Seulgi when it’s their meeting schedule.  
  
His father puts his hand on his arm and gets him out of his daze.  
  
“Have you considered who it’s going to be?” he asks.  
  
“I still have another 6 girls to meet,” he says, blankly.  
  
“Just remember that you have to consider the kingdom too,” he says.  
  
Seunghoon just nods.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When they meet on the fifteenth day of the selection, he is The Crown Prince.  
  
  
  
Hands sweating, Seulgi wipes her hand on the fabric of her dress. She is sitting on a chair in quite a small dining room—if you were to compare it with other rooms she’s been into in the palace. Perhaps it’s because there will only be 2 people in it. Seulgi shudders at the thought of being left alone with the Crown Prince. She wouldn’t know what to talk about, how she should act. Hands stiffly on her lap, she lowers her head and gulps.  
  
The door slides open, and from the corner of her eyes, she sees a person with a black suit. She can see its platinum buttons in the middle of the torso area and threads with the same color as the buttons lining the sleeves and the bottom of the top. The man walks toward the table and sits on the seat across her. As much as she is nervous, she knows that it would be impolite not to welcome him or as much as look at him, so she lifts her head slowly with a ready smile on her lips.  
  
There is no way she doesn’t have any expectation of how The Prince would be, but when she sees the man in front of her, there is something not quite a disappointment and more of a confusion. The man she has seen a few times and even danced with sits across her with a tight-lipped smile. A few minutes ago, she had been worrying about what to say, but now she’s simply lost for words. She stares at the guy, eyebrows furrowing deeper.  
  
“Hi, Seulgi,” he says, now his turn to lower his head. He touches the back of his neck nervously.  
  
“You,” she just says, surprised expression staying on her face.  
  
Silence.  
  
“Are you… are you th—The Prince?” her words got caught in her throat while trying to confirm her logic to him.  
  
“Umm. Yes,” he answers while slowly lifting his head to check her expression. It was still of confusion and he finds no delight whatsoever. He had imagined this reaction, but he much prefers the other scenario where she is happy and feels lucky or some sort. They stare at each other, still in silence. The air grows tight and heavy.  
  
She feels the need to ask again. “Who are you?”  
  
He is taken aback, but he answers after giving it a thought. “Lee Seunghoon, The Crown Prince of the kingdom.”  
  
Many questions run through her head: _Why didn’t he tell me? What has he been doing the past days when he met me? Is this in the selection system all along? Has what he been telling me all a lie? Do I even know him? Can I trust him?_  
  
“You’re probably thinking why I’ve been hiding it,” he starts and sighs, “I was afraid that you would treat me differently if you knew who I was. People do that all the time to me. I’m so… I’m just—I’m tired of people’s fakeness. But then you act to me the way you do and I’ve never felt more appreciated as a person.”  
  
She downs her glass of water. Her throat is getting very dry. “I’m sorry, but can I be excused?” she says.  
  
His jaw hardens as he grits his teeth. He nods.  
  
She stands up slowly and is walking toward the door when he says, “what are you so upset about? Isn’t it turning out well for you?”  
  
She stops her step just before the door. Not turning back, she says, “I need to make sense of everything first.” She exits the room.  
  
Seunghoon slams his fists onto the table.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Three more days into result announcement. Most of the girls are in their most anxious state, not excluding Seulgi—only difference is that while the other girls are anxious because they want the result to be released as soon as possible, Seulgi wants it to be pushed back as far as possible.  
  
She has lost count of the number of times she has been tossing and turning on her bed this morning alone. She mindlessly slides through each information pages contained in her bracelet, and finds The Prince’s profile page. It didn't have a picture.  
  
_Lee Seunghoon,_ it says. _Age 23, only child of The King and Queen Lee, residing on Regalia. He is a humankind, as his parents are. The rightful heir to the throne._ That’s all that’s written on the profile.  
  
She turns off the transmitter from the bracelet and closes her eyes again, thoughts running back and forth in her mind. Suddenly the intercom of her room makes a sound.  
  
“Kang Seulgi,” the voice says. It’s the voice she doesn’t want to hear for the moment, so she stays quiet and doesn’t answer it.  
  
“It’s Seunghoon,” he says. “If you don't want to open, it's understandable, I guess,” he continues, “but I just want you to know that I enjoy being with you. I enjoy listening to your stories, and I’m glad I can know you.”  
  
He stops for a while, and that’s when her voice comes through the intercom to the outside of her room. “I thought I know you as much as you know me, but now I… I’m... Just not sure,” she says hesitantly.  
  
He feels a huge relief—at least she’s listening, at least he can tell her.  
  
“I’ve always been me all those times. I’ve been even more me than I had usually been. The only thing I didn’t say was my title. Because I hoped the title wouldn’t matter to you. And… I think I love you,” he says.  
  
She doesn’t answer again.  
  
He sighs, “I’m not here to convince you to forgive me, I’m just here to tell you how I feel. So I hope that settles your mind for a bit.”  
  
“I’m leaving,” he ends their conversation—their one-way conversation.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Last day of selection. All the girls are gathered in the hall they used for the ball last time, all of them wearing the dress that has been prepared for the contestants. Unlike last time, when they enter the room, they are met with the sight of the king, queen, and the prince standing in the front of the room.  
  
The Royal Family welcomes them, and The King tells them that they are thankful for their participation in the whole process. The Queen says that they appreciate their sincere efforts and hopes that the girls had a delightful experience while they are there. Then, The Prince steps up and tells them the obvious fact that they’ve all been more than aware of: that the occasion is one where they will be told about the result of the selection.  
  
Hearts are racing, hands are sweating, and emotions are almost making the girls jump out of their spots, but they manage to maintain a polite smile on their faces.  
  
“As what my father and mother said, I am thankful for your participation and I hope all of you had a great time here in Regalia,” Seunghoon starts his speech.  
  
“After a long time of thinking, evaluating, and discussing with my parents, I have finally arrived at a decision.”  
  
The girls hold their breaths.  
  
“I have met each of you on the meeting schedules, and there has also been some unscheduled encounters,” he locks eyes at Seulgi before averting his eyes to another direction, “and those meetings led me to learn a thing or two.”  
  
“So here’s my decision,” he pauses to brace himself (and to give it a dramatic effect, he has always wanted to try that) and continues, “I have decided that I will not be choosing any of you to be my wife at this moment.”  
  
Faces of the girls turn into confusion, outrage, and some even go as far as to think that the Prince wasn’t satisfied enough with all of the contestants. Seulgi is also confused, she truly is, but somehow she feels relieved.  
  
Seeing those faces, Seunghoon continues, “Something I got from the selection is that the selection isn’t an appropriate enough method of choosing a wife. Sure, we get to know what you are capable of and have a little insight of how you are through the evaluations and meetings. But, I’m not gonna marry someone because they’re good at something, right? Otherwise I would probably have to hire my own wife.”  
  
Some of the girls smile at that.  
  
“I have learnt that there is so much more to a person than that. I have also learnt that while reflecting about myself this past few days.” He looks at Seulgi’s eyes, a little bit longer this time.  
  
He turns to his mother and father, “And I have been with my parents long enough to see that a marriage will be successful not because of the competencies of the people in it, but it was of understanding, trust, and how compatible they are. Especially one where the husband has a job of managing a kingdom. A job I wouldn’t do, honestly, if I had the choice.”  
  
The King lets out a little laugh.  
  
“And so, I have decided and asked for my parents’ permission to travel and find myself experiences outside of the palace—outside of Regalia—to learn more about myself, about my own kingdom, and hope that on my way, I will manage to bring back a wife,” he smiles, “I think I’ve been too much of a mommy’s boy.”  
  
Some of the girls are nodding from finally making sense of his initial statement. “That being said, I hope the selection could be a memorable experience for you and I hope that there be no hard feelings. I hope we can get to know each other even after this,” he says while looking at Seulgi the whole time.  
  
Son Seungwan, Seulgi’s shipmate on the way to Regalia, turns at where he was looking and a rare smirk blooms on her face. She will make sure she teases Seulgi and maybe push her into pursuing the prince.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**L.S.H _ RW14 - 812 _ Log 1 _**  
  
Seunghoon boards the ship with a hopeful heart—hopeful because he is going to welcome all opportunities coming to him, and hopeful because he got Seulgi’s contact information.  
  
“Begin message. I’m boarding the ship. Promise to meet me when I drop by Illumine. Or else.” he says to his communicator, “End of message. Send to Kang Seulgi.”  
  
The ship takes flight.

 

 


End file.
